Sheffield dad’s fundraising cafe in memory of tragic daughter

A heartbroken Sheffield dad who lost his little girl to meningitis is raising money to open a cafe in her memory.

Daniel Foster is using crowdfunding website Kickstarter to try to raise £200,000 to open Gracie’s – a not-for-profit coffee bar and restaurant – in the city.

Gracie Foster, aged 4, who died from meningitis

The kind-hearted chef said most of the proceeds will go to charity.

Four-year-old Gracie, a pupil at Lenthall primary school in Dronfield, was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital in October last year because she was having trouble breathing.

Doctors told Gracie’s parents she had meningitis and put her in intensive care – but they were unable to save her and she died just hours later.

Daniel said half of the cafe’s profits will go to charity, including Sheffield Children’s Hospital, while the other half will be re-invested into the business.

The 35-year-old chef, of Broomhill, Sheffield, said: It would mean everything to me.I feel like I’m losing a bit of her every day but by doing this I’ll be able to keep her memory alive.

“I’ll also be able to help other people. I know she’d have loved that. I don’t want other people to go through what we went through. I want to give support to families in a similar situation. Even if it’s just taking them out for a day or supporting them in a small way.”

Daniel plans to serve meals as well as good quality coffee and cakes. He also wants to use as much local produce as possible.

“I want it to be the best food in Sheffield,” said Daniel, who has 17 years of experience in the restaurant industry.

“I’d get beef and lamb from Derbyshire, there’s a pig farm about 20 miles away and we’d use local bakeries. If I do decide to serve alcohol it will all be Sheffield-brewed. I want to try and use as much food from the area as I can.”

Daniel said he will be ‘transparent’ about how much money from the business goes to charity by building a special website.

He said: “It will be updated every quarter and people will be able to see where every penny of the money has gone.

“I want to show what went where. I’m not doing this to get rich, I’m doing it because I want to help people.”